Seal



H. LEACH SEAL Dec. 28, 1937.

Filed Oct. 28, 1957 II I W INVENTOR. fia f/ Leac A TTORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 28, 1937 SEAL Bari-y teaciieriiiviaefie; R. I.

- Application-- October 25 *4 Claims? This invention relates to a seal-more-particu= larly of the-typewhich-is inband-form to en circle some'objeCt, for'instanceas a chickens leg;

and has for one. of its objects to provide 'a seal 5 which when attached cannot be-removedwithout destroying it so that the sea-lcannot 'be shif from one'objectto another.

' Another object- .of-"the invention --isto provide a seal which cannot be tampered with by some. l l unscrupulous person without detection. Another object of the invention is the provision of a construction which will be simple of formation and yet efiective in its holding qualities so that the parts will be secured against being tam- 5 pered with or broken. 7

Another object of the invention is the provision of a resiliency about the slot for holding two ends of a band with one end portion extending through a slot in the other end portion in closed 20 position.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a resilient latch cut from the stock which is to form a slot in the band and is so disposed as to efiect a holding of the part which extends through the slot.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, as will be more fully described, and

particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a strip of stock with the band in open position such as shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the band in closed position;

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a section on line 55 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the structure shown in Figs. 1 to 4 and in a position with the 40 narrowed tongue portion just entering the slot;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a modified form showing the teeth as formed on one edge of the tongue only rather than both edges.

Seals for marking difierent objects are desired I ted-- .1937, Serial No. -=171-,428

-(61.""40-3') V a portion; at the t-other end of the :band extending through'the slot-and-being locked-by;:thelresilient M latch in any selectedoneiof -;a -plurality;lf;-difierent encircling; sizes which provides; an? arrangement so-that the band cannotgbe openedup from any one o-.- the sizes irom;which;it ;isrcollapsed; and t e q o ine aiimc edeta ed-descr ofthe-present embodiment of thisinventionflllus l es: hz r e drme s brwhi h van a eeu .51 5. mar ea a mn sh d 1 WitH reference to the drawing, I0 designates one arcuate section of a strip of material" and II another arcuate section, these being formed up from a single piece of sheet stock by suitable cutting and press work. These sections l0 and II are left joined together by a bendable portion l2 which is cut away as at l3 so as to weaken this point of connection and locate a bending point when pressure is applied to the sections. This single slot [3 is merely illustrative, however, of one form of weakening the connection between these sections, as other forms may be had.

Section I l is ofiset as at H! so as to dispose one portion of the strip in a plane distinctly different from the portion I 6 of a strip adjacent this oifset M. This offset is of a dimension a little greater than the thickness of the stock from which the strip is formed. Latches I1 and [8 are cut from the stock of this-strip at the ofiset [4 to provide a slot l9 while these latches extend inwardly from the slot and beneath the portion l6 of the strip of band material, although they extend angularly toward each other, as shown more clearly in Fig. 5.

The opposite end of section Ii] is reduced in its width as at to provide a narrowed tongue portion with shoulders 2| at the juncture of this tongue portion 20 with the band. This narrowed portion 2!) is of a width to pass through the slot [9 somewhat snugly and is formed with teeth 22 separated by notches 23 along its opposite edges so that as this tongue 2|] is passed through the slot the latches I! and I8 will engage back of the teeth 22 in notches 23 and prevent the tongue or narrowed portion 20 from being withdrawn from the slot, and when this band tightly embraces some object one will not have access of the latches I! or l8 to remove themfrom the teeth of the narrowed portion and thus the band cannot be opened after once closed.

In some cases instead of providing notches and teeth on both side edges of the tongue 20 I provide these on one side only, as shown in Fig. 7, with a smooth edge 25 along the other surface,

and in this case the latch such as it, will engage the smooth edge and maintain it in position so that the latch I! will enter the notches 23 and engage the teeth 22. The relative widths, however, of the parts are such that the resiliency of the latch 18 will not permit sidewise movement of the tongue 2|] to an extent sufiicient to detach it from the latch [1.

The foregoing description is directed solely towards the construction illustrated, but I desire it to be understood that I reserve the privilege of resorting to all the mechanical changes to which the device is susceptible, the invention being defined and limited only by the terms of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A seal comprising a strip of sheet material bent into substantially circular form, with the end portions of the strip overlapping, one end portion having a slot therein, the other end portion being of a narrowed width to extend over the outer surface of the band and through said slot, teeth along an edge of said narrowed portion, and a resilient latch at one end of said slot to engage said teeth and prevent withdrawal of said toothed portion from said slot.

2. A seal comprising a strip of sheet material bent into substantially circular form, with the end portions of the strip overlapping, one end portion having an ofiset with a slot in said offset portion, the other end portion being of a narrowed width to extend over the outer surface of the band and through said slot, teeth along an edge of said narrowed portion, and a resilient latch at one end. of said slot to engage said teeth and prevent withdrawal of said toothed portion from said slot.

3. A seal comprising a strip of sheet material bent into substantially circular form, with the end portions of the strip overlapping, one end portion having a slot therein, the other end portion being of a narrowed width to extend over the outer surface of the band and through said slot, teeth along opposite edges of said narrowed portion, and resilient latches at the opposite ends of said slot to engage said teeth and prevent withdrawal of said toothed portion from said slot.

4. A seal comprising a strip of sheet material bent into substantially circular form, with the end portions of the strip overlapping, one end portion having a slot therein, the other end portion being of a narrowed width to extend over the outer surface of the band and through said slot, teeth along an edge of said narrowed portion, and a resilient latch'at one end of said slot to engage said teeth and prevent withdrawal of said toothed portion from said slot, said latch being formed from the stock which is cut out to provide said slot and thus integral with said strip.

HARRY LEACH. 

